There are various different surgical systems that enable a surgical procedure or a surgical site to be viewed. One such type of surgical device is an endoscope. Such a device may be inserted into a patient's body during a surgical procedure to illuminate, view and/or manipulate a surgical site within the patient's body. Conventional endoscopes typically employ a flexible endoscope shaft, a first end of which is insertable into a patient's body. The shaft has a camera mounted at the first end and is connected at its second end to a power source for providing power to the camera. In addition, the shaft has a fiberoptic bundle that runs therethrough and connects to a light source outside of the patient's body. The light source is powered by another power source and the light from the light source is conveyed from the second end, through the fiber-optic bundle in the shaft, to the first end in order to illuminate a surgical site within the patient's body. In addition, the second end of the endoscope is connected to a television monitor, having still another power source, in order to display the images received by the camera.
Thus, conventional surgical systems of this type, e.g., endoscope systems, are typically bulky, complex and difficult to maneuver.